Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Sweet Somethings

We are closing in on our 6th wedding anniversary, so naturally this time of year I start thinking back to our wedding day and all of the special memories that wonderful day holds. On top of all of the love and joy that was floating around on July 19, 2008, and the pure elation I was feeling about finally marrying my favorite person in the world...another part will always come right to the front of my mind every single time. My mom gave the sweetest toast at our wedding. I'm talking a two-page-long heartfelt letter to us that she began with the words "I Dream For You..." You can just imagine how much I cried during that speech based on that intro. I can still feel the tears welling in my eyes as she spoke the words "I dream for you to always enjoy the little things in life, because the big moments like these are few and far between... and one day you will look back and see that the little things are what make life worth living and they were the big things all along." That was almost six years ago and I'll never forget what she said.

You see, words are powerful. They can turn a person's bad day into a good one. They can help heal a broken heart. They can encourage. They can inspire. Words are powerful. And words are one of those 'little things' that end up meaning the world to someone. In my family, we say I love you at the end of every phone call. We give each other hugs every time we know we will be apart for more than 10 minutes. We call each other 5 times a day even though we all live just a few miles apart. Devin and I call each other before we reach the end of the driveway headed to work just to say I love you again. I'm pretty sure I tell Kollyns I love her and that she is beautiful too many times to count. But when you talk to each other so often, and say I love you so much it becomes routine. Of course we mean it, but rarely do we go much deeper than that and really express a genuine appreciation for one another using our words. It's almost like an unspoken "given". But how sweet would it be to let them know. Surprise them and put a smile on their faces by just sending a little note of appreciation or encouragement. Life has been crazy for us lately but in the midst of the chaos, I've committed to sending a card to a member of my family each week until I've personally expressed my appreciation for each and every one of them. I feel like cards are the best way to do this. Cards are timeless. I have a card in my memory box that my grandma gave me for my eighth birthday. I have every card my husband has ever given me since we started dating almost ten years ago.

Cards are meaningful. And in our tech-driven, email and text message filled generation...cards stand out. For some reason I just can't let go of something handwritten on paper, but texts and emails fall to the wayside. Treat is my go-to for my latest bright idea. They have the cutest designs and you can even add photos to personalize them and make the surprise a little bit sweeter. And personally I like mailing the cards for added effect because who doesn't love getting surprises in the mail? (Pssst, Treat will mail them for you!) ;) If you're an avid birthday card sender, you can even add birthdays to your own personal calendar in your account and it will email you reminders so you never ever miss a birthday. And you can use your photos that you've already uploaded to your Shutterfly account. Which is great news for a Shutterfly archiver like myself. Heck yes. Go there and make someone's day. The first person who will be getting a little love note from yours truly is of course my Dev. Who's next? It may just be you. :)

2 comments:

Thank you Tawnya! You should definitely check it out! The site so easy to navigate & a lot of the cards are less expensive than store bought cards, they ship really fast and they're so much more personal! :)